Fourth-quarter job vacancy rate edges up

Number of jobs open jumped 6.3 per cent, led by rise in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec

04/17/2017|hrreporter.com|Last Updated: 04/17/2017

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian job vacancy rate edged higher in the fourth quarter compared to the year before as the number of open positions rose in provinces that have had the strongest labour markets, data from Statistics Canada showed on Thursday.

The national vacancy rate rose to 2.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, up from 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015. The vacancy rate measures the share of all available jobs that are unfilled.

The number of jobs that were open jumped 6.3 per cent to 374,895, led by a rise in vacancies in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, three provinces that have had the largest employment growth in the country, the statistics agency said.

"Clearly in those markets demand for labor has been quite strong and, apparently, not entirely satisfied either," said Robert Hogue, senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada.

"It's a sign of a fairly robust labour market."

Vacancies rose 21 per cent in British Columbia, while its vacancy rate rose to 3.3 per cent. The province has had the highest vacancy rate among the provinces since the third quarter of 2015.

Higher vacancy rates often suggest economic growth. British Columbia had the lowest unemployment rate in the country in March at 5.4 per cent, well below the national rate of 6.7 per cent.

Quebec's vacancy rate rose to 1.8 per cent, while Ontario's increased to 2.6 percent, with the major city of Toronto accounting for much of the increase in unfilled positions.

Strong job growth in Canada in recent months has suggested the economy is turning a corner after being hit by a drop in oil prices in 2015.

The fourth-quarter vacancy figures confirmed the labor market had good momentum heading into 2017, Hogue said.

"We continue to expect that overall employment will continue to grow moderately," he said.